“Salad Jar Daze”

You know it’s important to eat your veggies – a 3rd grader could tell you that.

Yet when most people think about adding more veggies to their day, bags of plain (boring) baby carrots and plates of (over) steamed broccoli often come to mind, squashing even the best of intentions. Even a devoted veggie lover like me can’t get excited about that.

If one of your goals is to “put more plants on your plate”, packing a salad (along with the dressing) in glass canning jars is a fun, creative, efficient way to make that happen.

Canning jars come in a variety of sizes, but the wide-mouth pint or quart sizes work well for this purpose. A pint jar holds two cups, perfect for a lunch or side salad, while a quart jar holds four cups – good for crowd or dinner size salads.

Simply pour salad dressing (1-4 tablespoons) into the bottom of the jar, then layer the veggies, starting with heavy, non-absorbent varieties like carrots, onions, cauliflower and cabbage, and ending with the lighter ingredients like spinach, lettuce, arugula, etc. on top.

Press down the veggies, screw on the lid, and that’s it! “Salad jars” keep will in the refrigerator for up to 5 days (yes!), making it super easy to have a ready-to-eat salad available at any time. When you’re ready to eat, just shake the jar to distribute the dressing, or simply pour the contents into a bowl and toss a bit with your fork.

Have fun mixing and matching ingredients and dressings, and congratulations on accomplishing your goal!

3 Responses to ““Salad Jar Daze””

I love your make-ahead salad posts, Cathy (including the one using Snapware a few weeks ago)! Great idea to get all the tedious chopping out of the way before the week starts. Can you tell your readers if you are using a magic trick to keep lettuce from getting “rusty” a couple of days after chopping? Maybe you’re not using romaine, but I like to mix it in with my spinach. Tearing instead of cutting is so labor-intensive, and I’ve heard those plastic salad knives don’t help either (because the rust is due to damage to the lettuce membranes, not due to the metal). Thanks!

Believe it or not, I’m just now seeing your comment! I’ve had problems in the past with comments not appearing, so I took it for granted that they never do! Sorry. Thanks for your kind words about the make-ahead salads (only way to do it in my book) and to answer your question, I don’t cut, I do the labor-intensive tear, but put the lettuce in first (on the bottom). Seems like piling all of the other veggies on top prevents the lettuce from oxidizing. And to be fair, I don’t always include lettuce in my salads – (red) cabbage is much sturdier, and I actually prefer the flavor. I mix up the veggies week to week, but a favorite combo is broccoli, red cabbage, carrots, cauliflower (your favorite, I happen to know), kale, red onion and sometimes red pepper. Now THAT’S a sturdy salad that never gets “rusty”. Hope that helps (albeit a little delayed!).

Follow Me……

About Cathy

Welcome! I'm Cathy Leman, a registered dietitian, certified personal trainer, and owner of NutriFit - a nutrition therapy practice and private personal training studio. My blog is where my professional and personal passions merge, creating a balanced, sane approach to health and wellness. It’s here that home cooking, vegetarian and vegan nutrition, and staying active and fit coexist to encourage healthy weight, a realistic body image, and the elimination of perfection. I love to run, lift weights, dance, write, and "eat in". I am a staunch believer in the power of cooking at home, and am crazy in love with the work that I do. Thanks for stopping by.